STRATEGIES FOR

EFFECTIVE
Without Highlighting
STUDYING

Learn:
How the brain stores and recalls saved information
How you can restructure a problem in your mind to
approach new solutions
Why highlighting and rereading notes is not the best study
strategy
What methods are most effective for retaining and
recalling information

Written by Katrina
Lutchman on April 4th,
2023, for the PYSC
3706EL 12 course in the
Liberal Arts Department
of Laurentian University.
The course is led by
Professor Blake Dotta.
 How The Brain Stores Information

So, it’s almost exam time and this semester you want to
reach for stars, study harder, and get A’s, instead of the B’s
and C’s you have become accustomed to. Did you know that
the most common study methods are rereading notes and
highlighting? If you highlight as you read information for the
first time, chances are you are unlikely to identify what is
important, and simply reading over your highlighted materials
Short-Term Memory
Short-term memory (STM) holds a relatively
small amount of information for a short time
period, allowing you to use it right away. For
example, if someone gives you their phone
BRAIN FACT:
number, you can keep these 7 digits in your
LTM activates neural networks
within the brain’s temporal
mind for 15 to 20 seconds, just long enough to lobe, which happens to be
where the hippocampus – a
write them down or type them into your main character in memory
encoding – resides.

phone. What if you had to remember the

phone number, but didn’t have your phone or
a pen? You could repeat the number over and
over, which researchers call rehearsing, and
eventually store it in memory for later. Congratulations! You just learned how humans shift information
from STM into long-term memory, using a process called encoding.

Long-Term Memory
Think of your long-term memory, or LTM, as a filing cabinet. This is your personal storage system that can
hold all kinds of information for an indefinite period of time. LTM further divides into 3 kinds of memory: (1)
episodic, which is memory for contextual information like the events of the day you took your driving test,
(2) procedural, which is memory for how to move your body to accomplish tasks, like how to move your
feet between the clutch, brake and gas to drive a manual transmission vehicle, and (3) semantic, which is
memory for all of the knowledge you accumulate, and where we are going to focus our attention next.

Semantic Memory

Semantic memory is – you guessed it – where your brain stores all of the knowledge and facts you
accumulate from your professors and textbooks, and this very brochure! By now you may have reached
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this conclusion on your own, but when you simply read a paragraph of text, or highlight it, only a small
portion of what you read is being transferred into LTM, therefore most what you have “studied” is gone in
15-20 seconds!

Let’s Problem Solve!

Identify the Problem

The first step in successful problem solving is to define the problem.

There are numerous problem-solving theories, but we will focus on the
view taken by Gestalt Psychologists. We have established that you want
to get an A on your exam, and you currently get B’s and C’s. The
difference between your current marks and the A you really want is the
dissonance. The problem identified is that your current study habits are
inadequate to earn you an A.

Restructure How You See the Problem in Your

Mind’s Eye

Research evidence points to restructuring a problem as fundamental

to problem solving. Remaining fixated on your habitual study
methods of rereading and highlighting your notes demonstrates what
psychologists call a mental set: thinking in a manner that has
historically worked for you and is comfortable. You require new ideas
and approaches to studying that will increase the potential of raising your exam grade to an A. You might
consider a technique called brainstorming, in which you compile a list of whatever ideas come to mind for
new ways to study, while refraining from being critical of any of them. Just get them on paper. A faster,
more efficient way to compile a list of novel study techniques might be to research proven methods that
are backed up by scientific evidence. Good news: the hard work has been completed for you!

Implement Your Chosen Solution

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 On the next few pages, we have compiled a list of all the latest study techniques
that, according to the most up-to-date research, are more likely to increase the
amount of information you retain in LTM than simply highlighting and rereading.
More information encoded and stored away means increased accessible
knowledge to draw from when you are writing an exam, which may result in
higher grades – perhaps that A you are striving for!

Effective Studying ELABORATION

Strategies

What is Retrieval?

Retrieval is how you recall information previously stored in your LTM, so that you can use it once again, for
example, during an exam. Whether or not you can retrieve information depends heavily on how you
encoded it in the first place. Therefore, the better the encoding method, which for our purposes is studying
strategies, the higher the likelihood the information will be encoded effectively and thus able to be
retrieved when needed.

Rehearsal: 2 Varieties

Rehearsal involves memorizing knowledge. When you simply repeat information over and over, this is
referred to as maintenance rehearsal, which research says does not encode well. Elaborative rehearsal
involves connecting what you already know to the new facts you want to retain. According to Craig and
Lockhart’s theory of levels of processing, elaborative rehearsal is one part of what is called deep
processing, with focused attention on the meaning, as opposed to shallow processing, which is similar to
maintenance rehearsal. The important point here is to focus on the meaning of the new information, and
how you can link it to information you already possess.

Let’s Elaborate!

Mnemonics: singing the alphabet song is a great example of how to utilize a mnemonic to remember all
26 letters in the alphabet. In addition to songs and rhymes, other methods are acronyms, acrostics,
associations, chunking, and the Method of Loci.

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  Make an acronym out of a list of words you need to remember. A great example is the “FAST”
acronym that is used to remember the signs of a stroke. The first letter of each word to be
remembered, Face, Arms, Speech, and Time forms its own word, FAST.
 Similar to an acronym, an acrostic creates a sentence or a phrase. One you have likely heard of is
found in music to remember the notes of each line in the staff: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge:
EGBDF.
 Associations are links between new and existing information. For example, say you want to
remember that John Bowlby developed attachment theory. You could
create a mental image of your friend John with a bowl attached to his
head that he cannot take off.
 Chunking reduces large information into smaller segments, or
chunks, and works especially well for numbers. For example, if you
need to remember the provinces and territories in Canada you could
divide them into 3 chunks:
o Eastern provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, PEI, New
Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador)
o Western provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and
British Columbia)
o Territories (Yukon, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories)
 A mnemonic method that involves using locations or routes to
remember large groups of items is called the Method of Loci. If you
need to remember the ingredients in a pancake recipe, you could
imagine walking through your house and picking up the items in
various rooms: You would get the butter from the kitchen, salt from
the living room, flour from the garden, sugar from your roommate’s
bedroom, milk from your bedroom, and eggs from the bathroom.

Retrieval Practice

Retrieval practice can be achieved in a number of ways. Try these:

RETRIEVAL
 QuizPRACTICE
yourself with practice tests. Try making your own if your class does not have them.
 Playing online games that involve your topic of study.
 Create your own flashcards and practice recalling the answers without your notes.
 Make a cognitive map by writing the main topic in a circle on a blank page, then add other circles
with key ideas about the main topic. Compare what you know against what you are expected to
know for the exam when your map is complete.
 Play ’20 Questions’ with yourself. On a blank piece of paper print the name of the topic, then
proceed to answer as many questions about the topic as you can ask, such as: when did this
happen, why did this happen, how does it work, what is another way you can explain this, give
some examples of this idea, and so on.
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Take a Hiatus

Research shows there are benefits to having frequent, short study sessions rather than long sessions with
no breaks. In fact, even if you studied for the exact same amount of time, you would retain more
information just by taking pauses between sessions; this is referred to as the spacing effect. Surprisingly,
there is evidence showing that going to sleep after you learn boosts your memory because consolidation is
thought to occur while we sleep.

Matching Encoding and Retrieval Conditions

Have you ever walked from one room to another to get an item, like your sunglasses, only to completely
forget what you needed when you got there, but as soon as you return to the room where the thought
appeared suddenly you remember? This is one example of what is called encoding specificity, where the
retrieval of stored knowledge best occurs when your physical location is the same as when you encoded it.
You can apply this principle to enhance your ability to access your stored knowledge by simply studying in
a physical location that is as similar as possible to where you take your exams. For example, if you are an
online student who writes your exams from home at your desk, make sure you study at your desk and not
on your sofa to ensure encoding and retrieval have matching physical conditions. Also consider matching
the auditory conditions of your exam environment: there are no televisions or music playing during exams,
therefore studying in a quiet environment that resembles the test setting will be most beneficial.

Alongside physical conditions, other contextual considerations matter to retrieval, such as your emotional
and mental state and the manner in which you are tested on an exam. For example, if you know your
exam will consist of short-answer and essay-style questions, but you study using practice tests that consist
of true-false and multiple-choice questions, the information is encoded in a manner particular to that
nature of testing, and retrieval may be more difficult for you on exam day. Language matters too: if your
exam is in French, study in French and not English, as recall will be enhanced if the language at encoding
and retrieval are the same.

You may be wondering why matching conditions matters. It comes down to how your brain uses various
stimuli to assist with encoding, which are called retrieval cues. While the brain doesn’t always use these
cues to recall information, when it does those cues can come in various forms such as your geographic
location, the type of background noise there is, a person or object you see, or even a smell. Have you ever
caught a smell that took you back to a memory of an event from your childhood? The scent represents a
contextual detail that was encoded with the childhood memory, and now serves as the retrieval cue for
recall.

Taking Care of Quizzness

There is a theory called the testing effect which asserts that LTM improves when studying involves
repeated retrieval of previously stored memories. This method of effortfully recalling information from your
mind is called active recall, and it differs from passive recall in that it requires you to fervently remember
something you previously learned, versus simply reading or reviewing the material.
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Active recall strategies to include in your studying sessions include:

 Flashcards.
 Writing down questions then answering them yourself without using your notes or textbook.
 Summarizing basic concepts out loud or writing them down.
 Using practice tests and quizzes (remember to use practice tests that closely match the exam
format!).
 Teaching a friend or family member about the subject you are studying.

Sleep On It

Here are the fast facts on sleep:

 Sleep is thought to strengthen the

memories that you have formed during
the day.
 A study at MIT in 2019 found a positive MEMORY
correlation between hours of sleep and FACT:
The “Encoding Specificity
test scores: the less hours of sleep Principle” is the name for the
idea that matching conditions
at encoding and retrieval will
students clocked, the lower their marks boost recall of episodic
memories
were.
 Recall there is evidence that sleeping
shortly after a study session boosts
your memory, which is likely due to
consolidation that is thought to happen during sleep.
 REM sleep (a phase of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and the proclivity to have vivid
dreams) is thought to strengthen critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Bottom line: adequate quality sleep is vital to processes like learning, memorizing, retrieval, and the
ability to come up solutions to problems. Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.

Exercise? I Thought You Said Extra Fries!

Exercise does not have an adverse effect on the ability to memorize information. In fact, a 2019 study
showed that memorizing definitions while simultaneously exercising actually increases recall,
compared to memorization post-exercise, or no exercise at all. You may find it difficult to study while
concurrently running 5k but consider using your breaktimes as a chance to engage in a physical
activity that brings you joy. That could be a leisurely walk in the sunshine, or an intense HIIT session at
the gym. Exercise increases the flow of oxygen throughout the body, including the brain, which assists
with performance of critical duties. Research on this topic is a bit divided, but some studies have shown
a correlation between exercising prior to studying and positive influences on memory. The benefits of
exercise on mood are well known, and a holistic approach to self-care is important to all aspects of life,
including education.
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 Interleaving Is not Needlepoint

Definitions of interleave use words like mix, divide, alternate, and segment. Interleaving as a study
method means to switch between
different subjects or topics within a subject
with the goal of improving knowledge
retention. There is evidence that
interleaving as a method of studying
leads to greater testing performance than
does sticking to one topic or subject for a long period of time, which is known as blocked practice. For
example, if your exam prep schedule allocates one or two days to each individual subject, mix it up:
Study 2 or even 3 different subjects in one day in smaller time blocks (and take plenty of breaks!).
Furthermore, during each smaller study session, practice active recall on material from various
chapters rather than focusing the entire session on just one.

Go Old-school

Power down your laptop and grab a pen and paper,

because studies have shown that handwriting can
help better encode knowledge, perhaps because
of the link between our hands and brains. If you typed
all of your notes this semester, try reorganizing
them by handwriting them, or by sketching cognitive
maps for different topics of study. In fact, combine
handwriting with any of the active recall methods
previously mentioned, and watch as you summarize
information in an individual way that reflects
how you conceptualize the topic. If you really prefer technology, try a digital pen and tablet; the
benefits to knowledge recall are still greater than typing on a keyboard.

A+ No Highlighting Study
Plan 8

Use Elaborative Practice Retrieval:

 Make 7 to 9 Hours
of Sleep Non-
Negotiable

Active Recall
Strategies

 Flashcards
 Written Q&A
 Summarize Basic
Concepts
Use Pen & Pencil or  Practice Tests/Quizzes

Digital Pen & Tablet  Teach Someone Else

Interleave Your
Study Subjects &
Topics

Source Information

The majority of the information used to create this booklet was taken from my personal notes which
were made as I read the course textbook: Cognitive Psychology, 5th edition, by E. Bruce Goldstein. I
incorporated additional materials, primarily research on the topics of exercise, active recall exercises, practice
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retrieval activities, and the method of interleaving. Where I sourced external material, I left a link within the
pamphlet text that corresponds to the specific research study or academic article I am referring to.

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